Flight, July 1928

THE VICKERS "VIVID”
One Napier "Lion XI" Engine

THE "Vivid," a two-seater reconnaissance machine designed and built by Vickers, Ltd., at Weybridge, is powered by one Napier "Lion XI" water-cooled engine and provided with interchangeable land and float undercarriages. The pilot's cockpit is fitted with two fixed Vicker's belt-feed guns firing forward through the airscrew disc. The observer, immediately to the rear, is armed with a Vicker's drum feed gun mounted on a Scarff ring.
In addition to the above, the aircraft is designed to carry 4 x 250 lb. bombs slung under the lower plane, a prone sighting position for the observer being arranged under the pilot's seat.
Fuselage. - Constructed throughout of mild steel tubes and braced with tie rods. Machined steel fittings occur at the points of attachment of engine mounting, chassis, wings, etc. while all other angle joints are of wrapped steel plate with sockets to receive vertical and cross members.
Wings. - The arrangement is that of a staggered, unequal span biplane and the structure throughout is of metal with fabric covering. The dural spars consist of double T-section extruded flanges riveted to joggled plate webs; drag loads are taken by special compression ribs and tie rod bracing, while profile ribs are of dural tube. Statically balanced Frise type ailerons are fitted to both upper and lower wings.
Tail. - Structure and covering is similar to main planes, while shrouded horn balance is fitted to elevators and rudder.
Engine Installation. - The engine is in the nose of the machine, mounted on bearers supported on a steel tubular framework which also carries an underslung nose radiator, the whole being cowled in to give a good entry shape. The two main petrol tanks form part of the upper wing while a removable auxiliary tank is located in the fuselage.
Undercarriages. - The two-wheeled land chassis is of the split-axle type to give good ground clearance and unobstructed bomb sighting view, while the seaplane unit has two dural floats mounted on a cross-braced structure, both undercarriages incorporating Vickers' patent oleo-pneumatic shock absorbers.

THE VICKERS "VIXEN": On the left Sqdn.-Ldr. Payn crossing the finishing line, fifth under the handicap, and, on the right, the "Vixen" taxying in. Below: Sqdn.-Ldr. Payn and his passenger, Mr. J. Wyatt.

DAVID AND GOLIATH: Considerable amusement was caused at Bournemouth on Whit Monday by a heat in which the Halton "Mayfly" (30-h.p. Bristol "Cherub") was racing against the Vickers "Vixen III" (500 h.p. Napier "Lion") (shown).

THE PORTUGUESE FLIGHT TO AFRICA: Four Vickers "Valparaiso" (Napier "Lion") biplanes of the Portuguese Military Air Service, the type on which Capts. Pais Ramos and Oliveira Viegas are flying from Lisbon to Mozambique via Portuguese Guinea and Angola.

The photograph shows the Vickers-Napier "Vivid" military two-seater which Flight-Lieut. E. R. C. Scholefield, A.F.C., D.C.M., on the 6th September, 1928, flew in one day from Brooklands to Bucharest in the astonishing flying time of ten hours. Like all Vickers machines it is of course doped with Cellon.

ENGLAND-ROUMANIA IN A VICKERS' "VIVID": In connection with some demonstration flights given by aircraft firms of various countries to the Roumanian Government, a splendid flight was made by Flight-Lieut. J. Scholfield on a Vickers "Vivid" long distance Reconnaissance machine (Napier "Lion") shown here. Leaving Weybridge just before 6 a.m. on September 6, he passed over Brussels 18 mins. later and landed at Nuremberg at 9.55 a.m. After a short stop he proceeded over Austria-Hungary to Belgrade (2.55 p.m.) and reached Bucharest at 5.55 p.m. (E.S.T.) ; thus covering over 1,300 miles in 10 hours.

Vickers "Valiant" (Bristol "Jupiter"). This machine represents Vickers' interpretation of the General Purpose type specification. Aerodynamically the machine is a clean design of fairly orthodox type, with large span, and consequently a high value of the ratio span2 : weight. This makes for low induced drag, and results in good climb. Structurally the "Valiant" is of all-metal construction, of forms developed by this firm during the last few years. Large balanced control surfaces result in great controllability at low speeds. Note also the careful streamlining of the engine cylinders.